Mechanicum Thallax Cohort (Thallaxii) warrior
The Thallax, Thallax Cohort or Thallaxii were heavily augmented cyborg shock-troops utilised by the Ordo Reductor faction of the Mechanicum during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy eras in the late 30th and early 31st Millennia. The Thallaxii differed from the standard Skitarii regiments both in their purpose and the unique extent of their augmetics. The Thallaxi Centuries utilised a divergent form of Power Armour technology known as the Lorica Thallax, which, unlike the armour used by its Space Marine counterparts, was permanently, surgically bonded to the body of the wearer. It is not known if the Ordo Reductor still possesses the archaic technology used to create Thallaxii troops in the present era of the late 41st Millennium.
Role
A Thallaxii warrior; front and rear view
As the heavily augmented cyborg shock-troops of the Ordo Reductor faction of the Mechanicum, the Thallax differed from the Skitarii regiments both in their purpose and the unique degree to which their bodies had been reshaped by augmetics. The Lorica Thallax which encases them was developed from the same Power Armour technology which led to the development of Legiones Astartes battle plate, but taken down along an entirely different avenue of development. Requiring a robust human specimen, the Lorica encased the major organs, nervous system and cerebrum, but replaced the skeleton and limbs entirely with armoured mechanical systems powered by an internal reactor-core. The agony of this process, along with the replacement of the usual human sensory apparatus, proved so traumatic as to require the surgical excision of the pain centres and emotions, leaving the Thallax a cold, calculating killing machine, yet one that still retained a degree of independent human thought. However, for some within the Mechanicum this transformation of the human mind skirted the edge of abomination such as that posed by sentient "Abominable Intelligence" (A.I.). Given the resources required, the difficulty of creating a Thallax and the fact that an individual's will to live was a factor in whether a usable measure of sanity was retained in the subject, Thallax conversion was often reserved for suitable Forge Guard and Skitarii fallen in battle and subjects obtained from more mysterious sources by the unfathomable and baleful Ordo Reductor.
Wargear
A trio of Thallaxii warriors
- Lorica Thallax
- Jet Pack
- Djinn-Sight - The sinister blank-faced helms of the Thalaxii conceal an array of inhuman sensory apparatus through which they experience the battlefield as a raging storm of electromagnetic turmoil, blood-heat and seismic percussion. However, for the organic brain to hand this hurricane of data, it must be surgically mutilated, removing the mere human senses such as sight and hearing.
- Thallax Augments - Certain Thallaxii are further implanted with augmetic systems to better suit them to a particular mode of warfare by their masters in the Ordo Reductor of the Mechanicum. A Thallax Cohort may only posses a single Augment upgrade.
- Lightning Gun
- Close Combat Weapon
- Frag Grenades
Optional Wargear
- Melta-Bombs
- Heavy Chainblade
- Augment Upgrades (Destructor, Icarian, Ferrox or Empyrite)
- Multi-Laser
- Phase-Plasma Fusil
- Irrad-Cleanser
- Multi-Melta
- Photon Thruster
Sources
- Imperial Armour - The Horus Heresy Betrayal - Book One by Alan Bligh, pp. 270, 276-277
- Forge World - Mechanicum Thallax Cohort
Gallery
